Ways To Use Solar Energy In Agriculture And Mixed Farming

July 24, 2018 2pm

Solar farms and farms are a natural combination. They both provide necessary energy for the world and draw it directly from the immense power of the sun. When we at Premier Renewables say immense, we mean it. The sun pours more energy on the planet in 20 days than all of the world’s oil, coal, and natural gases reserves in the world combined. This power and the natural combination of technology and business makes solar power a pretty attractive option throughout the San Francisco area of California.

In the past several years, solar power has become even more efficient and effective than ever before. The cost of its construction has fallen drastically and its cost to kw hour rivals, and in some cases beats, coal. Installing a solar farm instead of paying to lay new powerline often becomes cost effective within a few dozen yards. California, in particular, is very welcoming to solar powered agriculture, and even allows you to ignore sales and use taxes if your farm uses over 51 percent of their solar energy to power equipment that is used to help grow or harvest crops.

If you are interested in solar power systems for your farming operation, business, government building, or non-profit, Premiere Renewables is the best Solar farm and solar system installer in the San Francisco area of California. We are a full-service solar installer that custom designs your electrical system with all of your financial and power needs in mind, allowing for better energy distribution and efficiency. We ensure that your investment will pay off with our financial analysis before we break ground and offer maintenance after the solar power system is installed. In today’s blog we want to talk about the ways that solar power can be used on your farm or mixed farming operation.

Solar Powered Sensors

Water sensors and remote thermometers help keep track of growing conditions for a variety of crops and can alert you to changes in water levels or temperatures that can help head off expensive disasters, or simply track the drainage and use of water. Solar powered remote sensors can connect into your larger power grid or use a remote solar station to keep track of the ID chipped livestock, allowing a rancher or farmer to keep track of their herds easier. Something that can be invaluable for open range calving seasons.

Solar Powered Water Heater

Harsh winters in our part of California are pretty rare, but up north it can pay to have solar powered heaters that keep livestock tanks and even farm home water supplies from freezing up, especially when they can be remote and difficult to reach. As climate change continues to throw us curve balls, who knows when we might have to start installing these.

Call Us Today For A Free Custom Quote!

Solar Powered Greenhouse Heating, Cooling, and Ventilation

Greenhouse farming is a great way to provide a controlled environment to grow crops in ideal circumstances. For larger operations, this can mean heavy power bills and at times unexpected costs like having to tap into the main power grid, and at times, lay new power line from the city. For more remote operations, this cost can be exorbitant but can be easily taken care of with a solar power installation by cutting costs and increasing efficiency.

Solar Powered Irrigation

Especially for large agricultural operations, powering remote water pumps can be a real hassle, not to mention expensive. Gravity assisted pumping needs the right environment to be reliable. Extending your power grid those distances can be financially untenable, and can open you up to possible line damage that can shut your operation down and cost a ton of money in repairs. Remote solar power is becoming more and more popular, with the low-maintenance needs and energy flexibility. The excess energy from remote stations will either be stored there, reenter your own power network, or be put back into the power lines for tax credit. Solar powered irrigation is one of the more critical parts that help you qualify for the agricultural sales and use tax exemptions in California.

Solar Powered Farm House

Installing a solar farm isn’t simply a way to help power your agricultural operations, it can also cut down or eliminate the electric bill for yourself, or people living on site. Both offer a level of electrical independence that only solar systems can provide. Paired with a solar battery system, any solar grid can work round the clock. The solar powered home can be easily extended into forms of solar powered heating so that you or your onsite residents will barely have to pay bills.

Solar Powered Vehicles

While electric or diesel electric tractors and vehicles are growing in popularity and fully electric tractors in the prototyping stage, the future of farm equipment is looking to swing towards electrical, and therefore solar power. This opens up an opportunity for solar powered charge stations for electric farm equipment. With California partial sales and use of tax exemption for solar powered agricultural facilities, requiring over 51 percent of electricity used in the growing and harvesting the plants, using solar power to assist in charging electric vehicles will be a sure way to qualify for the tax exemptions.

Solar Powered Processing

Not just the growing and harvesting can benefit from solar power, but the next step where the processing occurs on site. Whether that means solar powered augers or conveyors, or grinders for refining corn, or a range of other applications, solar power continues to be a low maintenance, high ROI investment for agriculture clients who are attached to a grid or far removed from it.

We hope that this blog has been beneficial in helping you take a look at some of the many uses of solar technology in agriculture and mixed farming. If you are in the San Francisco area of California and want to explore the idea of solar energy in agriculture, contact us at (805)-781-0881 or visit www.premierrenewables.com.